Investigators at a loss about Little Hocking head-on crash

Evan Bevins Special to the Times Little Hocking and Belpre volunteer firefighters spray the burned-out cab of an empty gasoline tanker truck following a Wednesday afternoon accident on U.S. 50 near Federal Road at Little Hocking. The driver of the truck escaped uninjured, but the driver of the Nissan Sentra that collided with the vehicle was killed.
LITTLE HOCKING — A woman was pronounced dead at the scene after her vehicle was going the wrong way on U.S. 50 and collided with an empty gasoline tanker Wednesday.
The woman, whose name had not been released Wednesday night pending notification of her family, was traveling west in an eastbound lane of U.S. 50 near Federal Road in Little Hocking, said Lt. Chris Chesar, commander of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Marietta post.
At the scene, Chesar said it was unclear why the driver of the Sentra was traveling the wrong way.
The crash happened after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and closed both eastbound lanes of the road for a while, rerouting traffic down Gantsville Road. The Little Hocking, Belpre and Coolville volunteer fire departments responded, along with the patrol, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and ambulances from Camden Clark Medical Center.
Little Hocking Fire Chief Mike Chevalier said the driver of the truck, whose name had not been released Wednesday night, escaped uninjured. Flames consumed the vehicle’s cab and charred the end of the tanker closest to it.
“It could have been a whole lot worse if it was full of gasoline,” Chevalier said.
The tank did rupture, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was notified of the incident, Chevalier said, adding there did not appear to be any runoff.
Chesar said the driver of the truck was not at fault in the crash.